1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and more particularly, to an improved electrical connector for interconnection an antenna with a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is becoming increasingly common practice to connect a plurality of terminals extending from an electrical connector with a plurality of circuit traces on a printed circuit board by mounting the connector on the same surface of the printed circuit board. Each terminal is coated with a solder composition. After a placement of the connector on the surface of the printed circuit board, the solder composition is melted so as to obtain the bond between the terminals and the circuit traces, thereby to obtain the electrically connection between the connector and the printed circuit board. One conventional electrical connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,877 issued to Mou on May 8, 2001. In this patent, the connector comprises an electrical contact including a retainer, a contact arm extending from a distal end of the retainer and a tail extending from an opposite end of the retainer. The retainer is received in a passageway defined in an insulative housing of the connector. The contact arm electrically engages with a contact pad formed on an electrical device (not shown). The tail is surface mounted to a circuit trace formed on a printed circuit board by soldering. Therefore, the contact electrically connects the connector with the printed circuit board.
However, as a solder portion of the connector, the tail is of a cantilevered configuration inclined to deflect and is too tiny to insure the connector securely mounting on the printed circuit board. In the other hand, the connector cannot be conveniently replaced after the tail is soldered to the printed circuit board. In fact, the replacement of the connector inevitably damages the circuit trace of the printed circuit board or the tail of the contact. Since the connector cannot be replaced conveniently, even a single damage can cause the whole to be wasted. This is economically inefficient, indeed. Furthermore, it must be recognized that the surface mounted electrical connector requires more space on the printed circuit board for the reason that the tail must extend laterally a short distance away from the housing of the connector. It can be minimized but it cannot be eliminated.
Hence, an electrical connector with improved contacts is needed to overcome the forgoing shortcomings.